A quarter of consumers have received incorrect bills from their energy company
in the past two years, according to a survey.

More than 9.6 million households found themselves unexpectedly owing money to their supplier last year because of a discrepancy between an estimated meter reading and the actual amount of gas or electricity they had used.

On average they owed the firms £154, although one in 16 ended up having to pay more than £500.

Getting billing mistakes corrected took over a month on average, although one in six was resolved in a day, the research for price comparison website uSwitch found.

In an attempt to ensure that they are not charged too much or too little, more than three-quarters of households provided a precise meter reading to their energy supplier in the last six months, up from two-thirds in 2009.

For the third year running, gas and electricity firms were found to be second only to the Inland Revenue when it comes to getting bills wrong.

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch, said: “Consumers are paying more for their energy than ever before, so the fact that millions continue to be plagued with inaccurate bills is simply unacceptable.

“Billing blunders are not just costly, but can also take time and effort to sort out, leaving consumers both frustrated and out of pocket.”